Point of View

When considered in terms of storytelling technique, it's important to note that the narrative unfolds and is recounted from the first person, past tense point of view. In other words, protagonist and narrator are the same person - Tituba, the "black witch" of the title. As is usually the case with first person narrative, the technique establishes and develops immediacy and intimacy, drawing the reader into the experience in a more subjective way. In the case of "I, Tituba...", this narrative choice is particularly important and particularly effective. This is because a core component of the author's intent in creating the book (as indicated in the Forward and the Afterword, as much as in the narrative's content) is to awaken the reader to the system of hypocrisy and oppression that has dominated the lives of blacks, of women, of non-Christians, and of the sexually open for...